Posted on 05/07/2016 12:17:27 PM PDT by Lorianne
On April 12, in one of the easiest financial predictions in history, I challenged the notion that a €5 billion slush fund dubbed “Atlas” could possibly prop up €360 Billion of non-performing loans in Italian banks.
Less than a month later, “Atlas” is already a notable failure. I seek no credit for my call, and none is due. Failure was a certainty from the start.
Instead, I question the sanity of anyone who thought such a preposterous scheme could work in the first place.
Please consider Atlas Strains to Hold up the Sky Over Italy’s Banking Sector.
“A government-orchestrated, privately backed €4.25bn fund — rushed into place last month as investors fretted about Italy’s vast pile of bad loans run up during a long recession — has not proved the silver bullet Italian bankers and officials had hoped.
Italian bank shares plunged again this week, alongside a wider fall in banking stocks, taking their losses since the start of the year to more than 30 per cent. This wiped out hopes of bank bosses that the fund — dubbed Atlante or Atlas, the mythological titan who held up the sky — would swiftly cause a re-rating of their stocks.
Rattling investors, Atlante made its first rescue mission at the weekend taking ownership of scandal-hit regional bank Popolare di Vicenza after the failure of its €1.5bn capital increase — seen as a bellwether of investor sentiment about Italian banks — failed to attract investors.
Italian banks are already saddled with the highest proportion of bad loans, the most branches per capita and the lowest profitability of any G20 country. Citigroup analysts described Italy’s banks as “fundamentally challenged” in a report this week predicting they could require €10bn-€30bn of extra provisions to deal with their bad loans.
(Excerpt) Read more at mishtalk.com ...
OH MANN! I am reading Atlas Shrugged as we speak! Trump as nominee is perfect timing. 200 pages read and I can’t put it down! 800 more to go! Best line is on page 97 for the libs: : “It is not advisable, James to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener.”
Who was able to use that month to get away and who got stuck with the bill?
I'll generously give you my first class cabin on the Titanic where you can wait for the Carpathia in comfort while I get stuck with your cold and wet bench on this so-called "life"-boat. No, no need to than me.
Will obama institute Directive 10-289 before or after the election?
Ayn Rand was great at describing the “witch doctors” who use politically correct “science” as propaganda to crush liberty.
I was thinking about that yesterday when the FDA issued their new tobacco regulations—their “evidence” concerning cigars and e-cigs was classic witch-doctor voodoo science.
I half expect some version of 10-289 anytime from the brilliant minds of the wun and the willing accomplices in both parties.
Ayn Rand was right about a lot of things.
Directive 10-289
In the name of the general welfare, to protect the people’s security, to achieve full equality and total stability, it is decreed for the duration of the national emergency that:
Point One. All workers, wage earners and employees of any kind whatsoever shall henceforth be attached to their jobs and shall not leave nor be dismissed nor change employment, under penalty of a term in jail. The penalty shall be determined by the Unification Board, such Board to be appointed by the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources. All persons reaching the age of twenty-one shall report to the Unification Board, which shall assign them to where, in its opinion, their services will best serve the interests of the nation.
Point Two. All industrial, commercial, manufacturing and business establishments of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth remain in operation, and the owners of such establishments shall not quit nor leave nor retire, nor close, sell or transfer their business, under pentalty of the nationalization of their establishment and of any and all of their property.
Point Three. All patents and copyrights, pertaining to any devices, inventions, formulas, processes and works of any nature whatsoever, shall be turned over to the nation as a patriotic emergency gift by means of Gift Certificates to be signed voluntarily by the owners of all such patents and copyrights. The Unification Board shall then license the use of such patents and copyrights to all applicants, equally and without discrimination, for the purpose of eliminating monopolistic practices, discarding obsolete products and making the best available to the whole nation. No trademarks, brand names or copyrighted titles shall be used. Every formerly patented product shall be known by a new name and sold by all manufacturers under the same name, such name to be selected by the Unification Board. All private trademarks and brand names are hereby abolished.
Point Four. No new devices, inventions, products, or goods of any nature whatsoever, not now on the market, shall be produced, invented, manufacturered or sold after the date of this directive. The Office of Patents and Copyrights is hereby suspended.
Point Five. Every establishment, concern, corporation or person engaged in production of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth produce the same amount of goods per year as it, they or he produced during the Basic Year, no more and no less. The year to be known as the Basic or Yardstick Year is to be the year ending on the date of this directive. Over or under production shall be fined, such fines to be determined by the Unification Barod.
Point Six. Every person of any age, sex, class or income, shall henceforth spend the same amount of money on the purchase of goods per year as he or she spent during the Basic Year, no more and no less. Over or under purchasing shall be fined, such fines to be determined by the Unification Board.
Point Seven. All wages, prices, salaries, dividends, profits, interest rates and forms of income of any nature whatsoever, shall be frozen at their present figures, as of the date of this directive.
Point Eight. All cases arising from and rules not specifically provided for in this directive, shall be settled and determined by the Unification Board, whose decisions will be final.[
The liberal dream for power and control.
I know too many fools that would happily go along with 10-289.
That’s pretty cool, and I wish good success to the endeavor... But Atlas Shrugged is not particularly difficult to read; the language is straight forward and plain. The only conceivable difficulty is to stick with it through the “lengthy” parts.
Anyway, since I’ll end up paying for it (the coming Italian bailout), WHERE’S MY FREE FERRARI?
Rand quotes a variety of philosophers and economists without attribution. Our book puts the pieces together.
Noted, thanks! Think I caught some of that, but new insights are always welcome.
The next time I would read AS from the beginning again is just too far off.
First time I read AS, it didn’t feel like a revelation, more like a confirmation of what I’ve thought all along from a fairly young(ish) age. I suppose that makes me sympathetic toward Ayn Rand (warts and all).
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